Running with Inspiration

My run this weekend was 14 miles and it was a hot, humid and quite wet 14 miles. As I made the short drive over to my father-in-law’s to drop off water bottles I was happy it was raining slightly because without the rain it would be one very humid run. Unfortunately on the 5 minute drive back the sky decided to not cooperate and it stopped raining. To me, this was most unfortunate. 80+ heat and 99% humidity is not a lot of fun.

I started my run anyway and I can honestly say that those first 7 miles sucked! I mean I was drenched with sweat within the first mile and the air was heavy. All I wanted to do was crawl under a sprinkler somewhere and take a nap. I started thinking about all my marathon sponsors extra early during this run. I needed any help I could get.

As I made a quick water stop at my house before starting my second 7 mile loop I said a quick prayer to the weather gods and asked them to please release the rain that was obviously in the clouds. Please let the rain help to cool me off!

I guess I have a direct line to the weather gods because about 20 seconds later my wish was granted and in a big way. It started to pour! I don’t know if there was ever a time that I was so grateful to feel the rain on my face and to feel it running off my arms and legs. It felt terrific.

My next 7 miles were easier than the first 7, but they were still tough. Even though I was drinking a ton of water I think the humidity had taken its toll. My legs were heavier than usual and I could feel the burn. I knew I would need to dig deep on this one.

I started thinking about my friend, Alison, who is running the NYC Marathon this year too. I knew she was signed up for a triathlon on this same wet day and I was sending her positive vibes. Running 14 miles seemed like nothing compared to an Olympic distance triathlon in torrential rain.

I started thinking about how she inspires me. She’s lost 70 pounds and now runs races practically every weekend and is quite the accomplished triathlete. I met her after she’d lost the weight so even though she’s told me about her “fat girl” self I have trouble picturing it. To me she’s an amazingly fit athlete who juggles her fitness schedule while working fulltime and managing to be a mom to two adorable little kids. Her arms and legs are cut and she just seems to ooze strength. I’m sure she still has a picture of “fat girl” in her brain at times, but I can’t even imagine that.

I read Alison’s blog regularly and it never ceases to inspire me so it was during those last 2 miles that I drew on Alison’s strength and friendship to help inspire me to keep going. I kept telling myself that I was strong and that like Alison, “I’ve got this!”

2 Responses to Running with Inspiration

Way to push through it! I can’t imagine running in that humidity either! If it gets at all humid here, I feel extremely sluggish and lack energy to do much of anything so it would seem very difficult to run even a couple miles to me.